New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-16
NOTES ON BOOKS.
.sr,r M.csrIAy AND rus Ix.-pAYNE's


trpom THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIfo SCI
LONDON, January 20.
The first volume of the longpronissd EDITION OF
Pascal for Messrs. Hachette's SERIES Les Grands
gcr,vains de Ia France" has Mt last appeared M.
Faugere ba. been engaged 1T is hard to say how
lo.o ON his task What he does new is to give US
<ha fret twelve OF the Provincial Letters with an
Introduction, to which may return. To-day will
do no more than extract passage or two referring
70 English opinion OIL Pascal; and one other much
more remarkable. "Tho fame OF the Provincial
Letters" observes NJ. Faugere, began from the
frat NONE mt apong our neghbors on the other side
Of the Straits; il has been maintained during two
centuries and half; strengthened and ansmented
by that Of the Pens6es." That seems strong th'ne
30 say. No doubt there have been TRANSACTIONS oo'n
Of the Lett and the Thoughts or the latter MT.
Keaau Paul published o version quite recently
about which good deal might be said AS ior mo
Proyiucias. they are so much sealed book 10 TINS
seneratiou that Sir William Harcourt thought IL
peeesaary some two years ago to commend them 10
the En- glish public as a book they would not waste
their time in reading. Sir William Is Fnilistlhe
ot the phiiis:iues and his testimony is conclusive
enough for he had himself Just made acquaintance
with the book on hich he bestowed his patronage.
NJ. Faugere now quotes greater than Sir Will
lam, Macaulay, whom MI Matthew Arnold has de-
scribed as the apostle of the Philstines. Welwhen
harm in confirming their Judgment by the Judgment
of those who have the popular ear. Macanlay still
has it. His opinion on Pascal reaches VI. Faugere
through no less person than Guizot, to whom
Macaulay said: IL admire the works OF
your great writers. but there are two which ad-
mre above all Others the Provincals OF Pascal and
tho Letters of Mino. dc Sevgn6 No matter how
often read and re-read Them can find not one
fault in them they perfection ITSELF That is
avery critical opinion. nor critical mode Oh e1-
pressing opinion, which. nevertheless. comes
pretty near being q sound opinion.
Far more striking is the testimony which M.
Faugere cites from tho Head OF the Catholic Church,
BY one important section Of which Pascals name
has ever been abhorred. I abridge a story which
our excellent editor tells with some of the garrulity
of age He was presented in 1S47 by the French
Ambassador at Rome to Pope Plus TX. NJ. Rossi
explained to His Holiness that NJ. Faugerc. beside
his connection with the French Foreign Ohice, had
published tim 1912 the Pensees Of Pascal for the
FIST time from tho text of the original manuscript
IL know it," answered the Pope. and added, nod
ding his head in token Of Tppreval, Pascal has de-
served well of the cause of religion his work has
both spleudor and substance" Then NJ. Rossi.
neellessiy alarmed at having named the author of
the Provincias in the palace OF the Quirinal, be-
Thought himself of explaining to the Pope that NJ.
Fausere had only concerned himself with the
Pens6es. ooh" replied the Pope with some quick
ness, with very slight exceptions everything which
Pascal has written is good" Then turning to Pas
calls editor lie SAID in Italian: Pascal too had seen
that everything in this world Is not perfect
Whereupon NJ FAugere. whose reverence for Popc
AMI Church is boundless, declared to the Holy
.Father-or as they call bim in French the Very
Holy Father-that he was happy 20 gather from his
lips sac piece of evidence" the most precious 1
which could be given in behalf of that great man"
And he hoped His Holiness would accept copy of
his edition of the Pensees; which His Holiness,
swith an accent of inexprcssible sweetness" said
he would.
All this will not prevent the Jesnits from pursu-
ing Pascal with their traditional and inextinguish-
able rancOr Anybody who has dipped into tho so
called refutaton of the Provincial Letters by Jesuit
writers knows how bitter is their hatred of
the man who pilloried them and their PRINCIPLES.
You may see it overao wing in Jesuit reissue of
the Pensees published at Tours sorecently as 1888,
with M.Victor Rocher, Canon of Orleans for editor.
That volume is q melancholy example of the ami
mostly which it Is possible for religions person to
cherish and to cherish against great writer who
has beer dead more than two hundred years.
@lt is true" writes Mr. Gladstone, !" contemplate
work of some extelt on the Olympian religion. but
have at present only scraps and shreds of tire to
apply to it now and then" And he goes on to ex-
plain that it is fresh work from the point of
departure as the "Juventus Mundi' which is a
book that few OF Mr. Gladstone's most ardent adj
mirers have really lead.
Mr. John Payne has printed his translation
OF BoccacciO's Decameron into English. in three
volumes. small quarto. The tyre is painfully small,
but well cut and clear its size permits. 1t is
in no proper proportion to the size of the page,
which again is too broad for the printed matter.
The afectatons Of elegance have been carried too
far Many people will think that plainness of
speech has also been carried too far. Mr. Paynes
version Is full if not free. He has rendered into
English whatever Boccaccio wrote in Italian. and
the book is one to BIO kept if kept at ALL under lock
and key 1t has, in auy case, the merit demerit of
being tho first faithful complete translation into
tie English tongue of book which, whatever
else may be said of it. is classic 1t may be i'm
moral; it certainly isimmortal Mr. Payne has before
now proved himself master of good English and
of such Eng ish as Is not merely good in tie ordi-
nary but good for the reproduction of master
pieces written in other languages. His "Villon'
was thing apart His Arabian Nights may have
less of Arabic scholarship than Sir Richard Bortons
unspeakable performance has. but between Sir
Richard Burton and Mr.. Payne writers of English
the comparison 10 all to ir. Payne's advantage.
This present DecamcI on has really predecessor
Rohns need not be mentioned Privately printed
for tho Vion Society,"" says the ttlepage. which is
adequate warning to all corners. The London price
is from three guneas and half upward, according
to the conscience of the bookseller with whom you
deal The number of copies printed tnot puOllshed)
is $50. Mr.. Paynes "Vllon," always a scarce
book, has become scarcer till the quaint little
quarto now SELLS when it occurs. at something like
SIS. speak of the first issue. The second,
purgated, was l think, published. and q much
larger number of copies issued than of the first;
which alone has a value to the collector.
Among the celebrities who were gucsts of the
Prince of Wales at Sandrin g ham from last Satur-